And when it resulted from his supplication that their destruction would follow, Allah promised him that. He, the Most High, said: ﴿So the scream seized them﴾, meaning that which, due to its intensity, has no other truth but this. It is possible that it was at its door, and it could be the scream of Jibril, blessings and peace be upon him, and the people could be Thamud. It is also possible that it is a metaphor for the overwhelming punishment. ﴿With truth﴾, meaning with the established command of the punishment that was obligatory upon them, which could not be repelled from them nor from anyone other than Allah, and it would not be so except that it is just. ﴿So We made them﴾ by Our greatness, which no greatness can rival, due to the scream ﴿as chaff﴾, as if they were the hollow trunks of palm trees, lying dead as they are thrown away like chaff, which is what the flood carries of plants and similar things, and it becomes dominant and decays until it is of no benefit. And We saved their messenger and those with him from the believers. So the disbelievers failed, and the believers succeeded, and they were the inheritors of the earth after them.

And when their destruction was in this manner, it was a reason for their humiliation. He expressed it by saying: ﴿So away﴾, meaning destruction and expulsion. And when it was as if it was said: For whom? It was said: For them! But he revealed the pronoun for generalization and to attach the ruling to the description as a warning to all who engage in it, saying: ﴿For the people﴾, meaning the strong ones who have no excuse for failing to follow the messengers and defending them ﴿the wrongdoers﴾, who placed their strength, which they should have devoted to supporting the messengers, in abandoning them.